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I would appreciate any advice and comments that anyone has to offer.

Thank you so much!

I would recomend a little fill flash just to get into his eyes and light them up rather than black line, but keep up the effort everything else is nice.

Cheers

Warren

I second what warren has said regarding fill in flash. You can also use a reflector which doesn't have to be elaborate, a white piece of card will do. You can use this to bounce light back onto the subject thus softening shadows. The best time for shooting is really early morning or late afternoon as you don't get the harsh shadows that a high sun produces. A cloudy, overcast day also gives almost shadowless and even light which is flattering for portraits. Another good thing to have in a portrait is light spots in the subjects' eyes. These are called catchlights and are produced by camera flash or silver reflectors. They give the eye a bit of a sparkle. On portraits it is also a good idea to focus your lens on the eyes as eyes. Eyes tend to look cold and dark without them, i.e. the dreaded 'shark eye'. As a beginner you have shown a lot of promise with this shot, you've cropped right in close and you haven't succumbed to the temptation of including distracting backgrounds and uninteresting scenery. The printing is flat and muddy on this particular shot-it needs more contrast. I don't usually print less than grade 3 but this is personal choice only. If you had this printed at a lab, I would suggest getting them to reprint and tell them that there are no blacks or white just different tones of grey (i.e. a muddy print). This is a good shot however and I wish you well and encourage you to keep shooting and keep submitting photos!

Both Warren & Ken are right. Pay attention to the focus: it's easier to focus on the hair, but it's better to focus on the eye that is closer to you.

 

Keep shooting!